Write On SC

Full show notes out on the blog here .

Full show notes out on the blog here .

Full show notes out on the blog here .

Full show notes out on the blog here .

Full show notes out on the blog here .

Full show notes out on the blog here .

Full show notes out on the blog here .

Full show notes out on the blog here .

Full show notes out on the blog here .

Full show notes out on the blog here .

Full show notes out on the blog here .

Full show notes on the blog here .

Full show notes on the blog here

get the full notes on the blog here. Last week’s episode on war was so rich, I’m glad to continue the conversation this week with author Jerry Dean Pate, a former journalist in print and radio media turned novelist of historical fiction. Pate’s first novel, Plagued by Bad Beliefs was published with friend of the show Alexa Bigwarfe through Write|Publish|Sell. We’ll talk about the novel, the origin...

Get the full show notes on the blog here . So last week we did “conflict” and this week we’re turning it up to 11 with War which, as you might imagine, is extreme conflict. Don’t miss adjacent episodes on raising the stakes and “ White Knuckle Scenes ” which address the concept of “tension” in fiction and our first “conflict” conversation way back on episode 10 . Last week we told you that conflic...

Get the full show notes on the blog here . We did an episode on raising the stakes and one on “ White Knuckle Scenes ” back in October of last year. And when I texted you and asked, “What should we talk about tomorrow?” you (Rex) said, “tention.” Leaving off that “tention” is a misspelled version of “tension” I assumed you meant how to create drama, conflict, or action in the scene. So we’re going...

Get the full show notes on the blog here . We have done character episodes before. Early on, we did Despicable Characters , Archetypes , Names , and how to Be Mean to Your Characters . Then, more recently, Do you Have to Like the Main Character? and giving them agency , diversity , patriarchy , and arcs . So we might have done it all. Except we haven’t. We haven’t done origins – where do character...

Get the full show notes on the blog here . Wednesday night we had a fun time at The Aristocrat on Washington, reading short pieces called “flash” fiction. The official definition of flash fiction is stories that are 1000 words or less. Fiction, obviously, not true. But the crucial part of it is the length. Lengths vary, though, which makes it more confusing. Between 5 and 1000 words? Or between 30...

Last week we talked about rejection. We’ve all been there. Felt it. Had visceral emotional responses to it. We did not, repeat NOT email those who rejected us with stupid arrogant vitriol about how sorry they’d be someday. We didn’t trash them on social media or lose our fucking minds about their industry, practices, or personal hygeine. Be a grown up. No, we did what professionals do. We moved on...

Okay. Rejection. Got another one this past week. The journal is called The Rupture and they didn’t want my short story, So Close. Today we’re going to talk about all the ways writers get rejected and what you can do about it. My Submittable account has 88 declines in it dating all the way back to 2012. A bunch in 2013, a pair in 2014 and 2015, a few in 2016 and 2017, and the bulk of them in 2018 w...

Leaving aside that we’re both of the generation totally fu**ed by Alanis Morissette’s inaccurate read of “irony,” and that hyperbole is So. Everywhere. that we probably don’t need an episode on it, and directing you all to the other episodes we did on archetypes ( Episode 181 The Fool , Episode 72 Feminine Archetypes , and Episode 45 Cliche Characters ), this may very well be our last deep-dive li...

Last week we continued our work with literary devices working on themes and their workhorses: symbolism and motifs. This week we’re looking at flashback and juxtaposition. Juxtaposition – is another theme workhorse so in the interest of continuity for our binge-listeners, we’ll start there.  Juxtaposition What is juxtaposition and why should you use it? Not exclusively a literary term, juxtapositi...

Last week we continued our work with literary devices working on flashback and juxtaposition. We took a little bit of time talking about extended flashback novels like The Orphan’s Tale which is also a frame story. So we’ll start with frame story today. What is a frame story? There’s a great video and full definition from the Oregon State University’s English department here . A frame story is a s...

Last week we worked personification and anthropomorphism. So this week we’re going to go through the list until we run out of time: Simile and Metaphor. We’ll work these two together like they do in English classes.  What is a simile ? A simile is a phrase or comparison to describe something. They’re spotted when you see the word “like” or “as” to create the comparison. Metaphors , on the other ha...

So we’ve done some cool literary devices in the past but we’ve never done personification. It came up in my house this week because my mom’s dog, Clemson, has been staying with us and we’ve been speaking for her all week: “But, Kasie, I love walking in the neighborhood and sniffing everything and never peeing. Let’s do it again.” All the sarcasm, silliness, and fun of pretending we know what the a...